After going through the refiner’s fire, I suppose our first expectation is to receive a warm hug and a cup of cold water. But God says that the next step is for Him to come near for the purpose of judgment. “Wait a minute! Didn’t we just come through the fire?” we might be inclined to ask. The answer is, of course, that we have. But the ungodly have not been through the refiner’s fire. They do not fear God at all. Now it’s their turn.
The fact is that God is not simply concerned with having a righteous church. He wants a righteous world. There is no “yin and yang” in the kingdom of God whereby light and darkness simply coexist. What fellowship does light have with darkness? None. God is determined to completely eradicate evil from off the face of this earth. While the finality of this is going to be realized sometime in the future, the pattern for this is taking place all the time. God allows the righteous to be purged so He can then turn His attention to the ungodly world around the Church and judge it accordingly. But He loves the Church so much that it must have His attention first.
So for those who have been through the refiner’s fire, God’s nearness in judgment holds no dread. They can stand in His presence as those who have been purged from the sin that God hates. May you find comfort in this thought as you go through the fire: judgment is coming, and you need not be part of it.
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